India, Part 2

After a five hour private bus ride, I am in Agra. Prior to coming here, our group visited the Spice Market in Delhi. What I will remember most about India will be its varied smells. Everywhere we went today, I smelled some kind of incense. At the Spice Market, I sneezed many times, my nose unsure how to digest all the spices in its midst. The Market is a site of frenzied activity--many men walk swiftly with large bags on their backs, yelling to highlight their presence. Unfortunately, the Market doesn't seem very large, and the items all seem similar after a short stroll.

We also visited the Friday Mosque in Delhi. Inside and outside, a few small monkeys wandered around, unmolested by anyone. The Mosque was large--apparently, it can hold up to 25,000 worshippers--but a bit too commercial for my taste. It is owned by or leased to the Indian government, and one must pass through a metal detector as a bored-looking military guard sits near. (What did he do to deserve this particular assignment, I wondered.) To take pictures, you have to pay 200 rupees, which isn't much, but several people who didn't pay and receive a ticket tried to use their camera phones and were immediately asked to pay the charge.

Several teenagers beckon you to take pictures and then ask for money afterwards. One of them asked me where I was from. I said, "California." He replied, "Do you have California money?" with a wide, friendly smile on his face. Some schoolgirls talked with my sister, asking only for her name. They were happy to say hello and continue along. Overall, my experience at the mosque didn't strike me as particularly religious. Perhaps tomorrow, when I visit a famous symbol of Islamic architecture, the Taj Mahal, I will have a different experience. So far, however, I've seen nothing here that exceeds the impressiveness of the holy places in Iran.

After the mosque, we visited a Sikh temple, where we were required to wear a head covering. We were able to attend and bring our cameras without charge. The Sikhs serve thousands of small food portions to the public each day--a noteworthy accomplishment in a country that has many impoverished residents--and even we were beckoned in to have some food (which we politely declined).

I had only two sweet lassis today, but plenty of naan. We stopped at a local restaurant and had a wide variety of dishes before coming to the hotel. Tomorrow we visit the Taj Mahal. Until then,

Your humble traveler,

Matthew

Bonus: Part 3 is  HERE.   

India: Days 1 and 2

I am in New Delhi, India, and it is December 13, 2010. Before coming here, I stayed overnight in London, and I enjoyed it--I got to see a dear friend, and it was the first time I'd been in the U.K. and avoided its usual rain. It was interesting seeing the cigarette boxes in the duty-free shops at Heathrow, which have the following 24-point font label: "Smoking Kills." (In case you didn't know.) After an 8 hour flight from London to Delhi yesterday, and another 30 minutes drive to my hotel, I've arrived mentally and physically.

The weather in India is delightful--California weather, really. Everyone told me I'd be in for "culture shock," but I've experienced no such thing so far. I wonder if people who talk about culture shock don't understand that poor people really do exist outside of television commercials. (Or perhaps some people view any place with weak commercial zoning laws and a removal of their ethnic majority status as sufficient to cause shock.) Certainly, I've seen poor people, including the so-called "slumdogs" (from the excellent film, Slumdog Millionaire). On the way to my hostel/hotel, several children came up to my taxicar, motioning for money. I did the Thai/Indian palms-together motion, saying "Namaste," and they left me alone. The salesmen on the street are far more persistent. Already, I've been propositioned to buy sunglasses and 32 gig memory cards for ten minutes straight. These sellers walk alongside you, sometimes tugging your sleeve gently, thinking that if they follow you for at least 10 minutes, you'll give in and buy their goods. Sometimes, and far less often, a poor woman will tag alongside you, asking for money or food, but they are comparatively less persistent. If you're not inclined to buy something or provide charity, just keep walking, be polite, and after some time, they will move on to the next tourist.

I'm staying at TJS Grand, which is located in a lower middle-class section of Delhi. Everyone here has been very nice, and many people speak at least basic English. The highlight thus far has been getting fresh chai on the street. For just 22 rupees, a hard-working man boils the milk, crushes the cardamom, cuts the ginger, dishes out the sugar, and prepares a wonderful cup of tea just for you. Overall, the food has been quite good. There's a small restaurant near my hotel called "Raffles," which has excellent food. I suggest ordering the combo, otherwise known as "thali" (pronounced "tal-ee"). I had already had some street food, so I ordered naan and sweet lassi, and I think I've found my own personal food combo. I could drink about ten sweet lassis a day and still not have my fill. I also enjoyed having cold coffee in McDonald's, which is a sweet coffee drink.

I am now waiting to have breakfast in the hostel/hotel, and then we will be going to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, for two days. We've got an excellent tour guide from Gap Adventures who calls himself "Luv." The name actually suits him. He speaks perfect English, is in great shape, and very sociable. He lives an hour and half away from this hostel and had to leave early to get back to his place. That reminds me: traffic. The small cars here compete with tuk-tuks, small motorbikes, and various other methods of transport. At first, the honking seems incessant, but once you realize drivers are honking not out of anger, but to advertise their location, it all makes sense. I have walked through dense traffic and not been scared, but my sister took half a day to adapt. She seems fine now. Walking with me, we received a few stares, as we're obviously out of place with our non-Indian features, but we've never felt unsafe. Some dogs roam the streets, but they all seem docile. Bottles of water are about 15 to 20 rupees, and I recommend picking one up for your hostel/hotel room, as tap water isn't known to be completely safe. If you go into some restaurants, they will serve you a large soda in a cup for just 20 rupees. The exchange rate is about 45 rupees to one American dollar, so while it's possible to spend loads of money on nice lodgings and fancy food, it's also possible to live quite cheaply here.

Breakfast will be served soon, and I don't know if I will have access to a computer at my next stop, but I will try to post again if I can. To more chai, naan, and the simple things in life,

Your humble traveler,

Matthew

Update: this became a 5 part series.  Part 2 is HERE.

Writers as Spies

From Ron Hansen, Santa Clara University professor (The Santa Clara, November 11, 2010, page 4):

Writers have a sense of themselves as spies and observers...Most writers I know fit into society very well and are not instantly recognizable as 'artists,' but most are also ornery, exceptional, and, to a greater or lesser degree, sui generis. Our sympathies will be with outsiders. We are, in Ignatius of Loyola's fine phrase, 'in the world but not of it.'"

More here.

Guess Who?

Guess who said this?

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity. If this is what you’re trying to get The Sun away from, then I think I’d like to work for you.

Hunter Thompson, of course.

Random Thoughts: Inflation, Housing, and Marriage

A.

1. The more government spends, the higher the risk of inflation.
2. The higher the risk of inflation, the more likely that prices go up.
3. When prices go up, essential items such as food and housing cost more.
4. When housing costs more, it becomes more difficult for an individual to buy a home.
5. Most individuals prefer to own a home before having children.
6. Most individuals prefer to own a home soon after getting married.
7. When the government makes it more difficult for single adults to buy a home, the most responsible ones among them will delay marriage and children.

[#7 assumes that most individual adults will have either little or no parental financial support when buying a home. It may be more defensible to change "single adults" and "individuals" to "single immigrants," who are probably less likely to be able to rely on parental financial support.]

B.

1. When prices go up, various items may become unaffordable for many families.
2. When prices go up, many families will have to use credit to finance a purchase.
3. The more expensive a product, the more likely a person will rely on credit.
4. Wall Street relies on credit. Without credit, Wall Street would probably have very little influence over the average person's daily life.
5. If you are against Wall Street and big banks, you should also be against credit.
6. If you want to minimize the use of credit, you should oppose rising prices.
7. When any large entity distributes large amounts of money to any area, it tends to increase prices in that area.
8. Government is a large entity that distributes large amounts of money to various areas.
9. The less government spends, the less likely it is to cause inflation and therefore rising prices.
10. Therefore, people who are against Wall Street and big banks ought to oppose increases in government spending.

Update: see link HERE for more on this topic. 

James Fallows on Coal and Energy Use

James Fallows, "Dirty Coal, Clean Future," The Atlantic (December 2010):

Overall, coal-burning power plants provide nearly half (about 46 percent this year) of the electricity consumed in the United States. For the record: natural gas supplies another 23 percent, nuclear power about 20 percent, hydroelectric power about 7 percent, and everything else the remaining 4 or 5 percent. The small size of the “everything else” total is worth noting; even if it doubles or triples, the solutions we often hear the most about won’t come close to meeting total demand. In China, coal-fired plants supply an even larger share of much faster-growing total electric demand: at least 70 percent, with the Three Gorges Dam and similar hydroelectric projects providing about 20 percent, and (in order) natural gas, nuclear power, wind, and solar energy making up the small remainder. For the world as a whole, coal-fired plants provide about half the total electric supply. On average, every American uses the electricity produced by 7,500 pounds of coal each year. Precisely because coal already plays such a major role in world power supplies, basic math means that it will inescapably do so for a very long time.

More here. The "green revolution" might peter out unless it creates products that impact coal use.

Random Thoughts of the Day: Observant Edition

1. "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work." -- Mother Teresa

2. Next to my building is a small retail store area with room for two tenants. A hookah lounge has filled up half of the space for the last couple of years, but one of the spaces seems to change tenants every six months. Recently, a bartending school moved out and was replaced by a medicinal marijuana clinic. It's very nondescript from the outside, so I knocked and said hello. Two people, one male, one female were present. There were several very comfortable looking white couches. A large television was playing a Dave Chappelle movie or show. Here's a paraphrased version of the conversation:

Male: Do you have a license?

Me: No, I'm a neighbor, just saying hi. Most tenants move out after six months, so I just wanted to see who had moved in this time.

Female: [She was friendly and said she hoped to be here longer than six months, etc.]

Male: [Asked me for my business card after I said I was a lawyer. I produced my business card. He still didn't look very happy. For some reason, people tend to think I'm either a cop or a nice target when they first meet me.]

Ah, the wonders of California. Anyway, I wonder if this business lasts more than six months. I find it a little weird that the new businesses that tend to move in have some connection to legal drugs (e.g., booze, MJ, nicotine, etc.).

3. I have never seen so many vacant buildings in downtown San Jose, California--and I was here during the dot com bust. It is becoming clear that this recession will impact Silicon Valley for at least another year, if not longer. Meanwhile, the last of the residential five-year ARMs are coming due in 2012. Hard to see a recovery before then.

Also, according to a CBO slideshow presentation, the unemployment rate won't go below 6% until around 2014-2015. The CBO is an independent, non-partisan government agency.